Steely Fire and Cold Ice
by Cookies4Lyfe
Summary: Katniss volunteers for the Hunger Games for Prim, determined to kill anyone in her path to winning, but what she doesn't expect to find there is love, especially with a Career. OOC Katniss
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi viewers! This is my first fanfic and I would really appreciate it if you reviewed to say what you think I could have done better/ what you want me to put in the story. Thanks for reading!**

Chapter 1

"Primrose Everdeen."

I was so shocked I could hardly move. How could this happen? It's only one name in thousands. I took action immediately. I started running towards Prim, who had started to walk to the podium, tucking in her shirt tail nervously, but two Peacekeepers blocked my way.

"No….No…..I volunteer!" I shrieked.

The two Peacekeepers were so shocked that they loosened their grip slightly, making me able to push past them. With a clearer voice I shouted "I volunteer as tribute!"

I rushed over to little Prim and knelt down to her level.

"Prim, you have to go. Go find Mom."

"No, NO, NO." Prim was shrieking, as Gale lifted her up and carried her away from the scene.

I stepped onto the podium, and Effie Trinket, the annoying District 12 Capitol representative, inquired in her ridiculous accent: "Well, I bet my buttons that was your sister wasn't it?"

"Yes."

"What is your name, dear?"

"Katniss Everdeen."

"A round of applause for our lucky tribute!" Effie exclaimed, loudly clapping in the silence. The crowd raised three fingers on their hands, with the thumb tucked over the pinkie: the District 12 sign of respect and farewell.

Seeming confused, Effie said "And now for the boys".

She eagerly dug her hand around the bowl until she pulled out another slip of paper, and read "Peeta Mellark".

_Great_, I thought. Guilt is what I need right now. I never thanked him for saving my life by giving me the loaf of bread.

Peeta stepped onto the podium and we both shook hands with each other, but while his eyes were filled with tears, mine were only filled with steely determination, and with that we were both ushered into the Justice Building.

/

I was pushed into a room by Peacekeepers. The room was completely bare apart from a couple of dusty chairs and some tatty wallpaper, which was peeling off the walls. _Nice place, _I thought. I turned at the sound of the door opening, and immediately a blonde blur crashed into me, wrapping her arms around my waist.

"You have to win Katniss", she sobbed.

Pulling back from the embrace, I could see tears streaming down her face.

"I will Prim. I'll come back and everything will be back to normal, just like it was."

Turning to Mom, I ordered her that she can't leave again, not like she did when Dad died.

"You have to be here for Prim, even if I'm not."

"I know Katniss, I won't."

When she said that, I pulled her into a tight embrace.

Peacekeepers entered the room to lead them out. Prim threw herself on me one more time before they were lead out, her eyes already bloodshot from crying.

As soon as they walked out, Gale and Madge came in, and Gale wrapped his strong arms around me. Gale was my best, and one of my only friends. We met when he thought I was trying to steal his kills he caught in snares outside the fence boundary, while we were both hunting for our families. I didn't know Madge that well, but at school we had a silent agreement to sit next to each other in classes and at lunch so it wouldn't look like we were alone. Surprisingly, she wasn't snobby, considering she was rich, as she is the Mayor's daughter.

"You can win this Catnip. We've trained with knives since we were little, and your aim with a bow is perfect. You have to come back ."

He let go, and I saw Madge standing there, with a sad, reassuring look on her face.

"Take this, Katniss. For good luck," she said.

She handed me a golden pin of a mockingjay on it, clutching an arrow in it's mouth.

"Thank you, Madge."

She pulled me in for a short hug, before Peacekeepers were announcing that visitor time was over.

They lead me outside to a rocky path leading to the train that would soon take me to my death. Cameras pointed at my face, recording for the Capitol, but I showed no reaction, and carried on walking with a emotionless look on my face.

/

Me and Peeta sat on soft leather hairs in one of the trains carriages as it started moving, sitting there in an awkward silence.

"So, do you want to talk about anything?" Peeta asked.

I said nothing.

"Look, I understand if you are scared, but we could at least talk about it."

Before he could say anything else, I stood up and said "It's nothing personal, but I'd rather not get to know you. It would make it that little bit harder to kill you in the arena."

And with that statement, I left the baker sitting alone in the carriage, with a stunned and hurt expression on his face, slamming the door behind me.

**A/N: Please review telling me what you thought. No haters please :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: By the way, this entire story will be mainly in Katniss' POV, maybe with a few parts with Cato in. Thanks to ****toritwilight504****for reviewing!**

The next morning:

I came in to the carriage to have breakfast and found our only mentor: Haymitch Abernathy and Peeta sitting at the table talking animatedly. Noticing me come in, Peeta shrank back in his seat, mainly because I had avoided him until now and told him I was going to murder him last night. Coward. Fixing Peeta with a steely glare, I made a point to sit on the seat farthest from him, which Haymitch raised his eyebrows at.

"Something going on between you two?" Haymitch inquired.

"It's nothing." I say, giving Peeta another glare. There is just something about him that I don't like, and find really annoying.

"So sweetheart, what can you do?" Haymitch asked me.

"I can shoot a bow, I'm good at throwing knives and I can hunt."

"Not about you Peeta?"

"I can carry 100 pounds of flour and I can paint."

Before Haymitch could say anything, I let out a snort of derisiveness.

"Fat lot of good that will do you in the arena. What are you going to do, dump a bag of flour on their head or paint them to death? Pathetic."

Peeta shrank back in his seat, as if he was trying to get away from me.

"Looks like we have a fighter this year; maybe even a Victor", Haymitch commented, looking pointedly at me.

_I am going to be the Victor_, I think.

And with that, I walk out the room, and don't come out until we reach the Capitol

/

At the Capitol, we were immediately taken up to our rooms by Effie Trinket, the escort. We stepped into the very high-tech lift and as Effie pressed the button for the top floor, the lift started to move hardly making a sound.

"As you are from District 12, you get to stay at the very top of the building, in the penthouse." Effie trilled.

The lift stopped and I elbowed Peeta out the way to get out. There was a lime green table in the middle of the apartment, with a kitchen to left which currently had Avoxes in it, preparing dinner. On the right, there were several wooden doors, but I didn't know where to go. I turned back to Effie with a scowl on my face and my arms crossed and said:

"Which room is mine?"

Effie's face was priceless. She looked appalled, as if she had just seen a child brutally murdered in front of her. Oh wait, people like her _like_ to watch that sort of thing.

"Such rudeness! Remember your manners Katniss. Your room is the one furthest away from the lift."

I stomped out of the apartment and into my room, slamming the door behind me. As the door made a loud banging sound, I could faintly hear Effie shrieking "Katniss, that is mahogany!"

/

I came out of my room for a meeting after watching replays of various Hunger Games to study their tactics. Peeta and Haymitch were talking to each other on the couch, but the second Peeta saw me, he shut up and shrank backwards, which Haymitch chuckled at. I walked over to them and sat on the sofa, away from Peeta.

"Sweetheart, nice of you to join us." Haymitch drivelled. "So, onto advice. At the very start, stay away from the Cornucopia. That's to draw you in for an easy kill. Run away, and try to find a good water and food source, and stay alive." Seeing my expression, Haymitch asked: "Bored, sweetheart?"

I replied: "Why not kill as many people as possible at the bloodbath. It would get it over with quicker." I said, looking straight at Peeta while I said it, making Haymitch laugh again.

"If you think like that, you may as well join the Careers from Districts 1 and 2, if they'll have you. At training in the next few days, show off your bow and knife skills, and wait for them to ask you. If you ask them, it makes you look weak and you will most likely be rejected." Haymitch advised.

"Wow, I think that is the first useful thing you have said all day. Thanks for the advice."

Ending the conversation, I walked to the kitchen, taking a bowl of lamb stew. I retreated into my room, making sure to glare a Peeta on my way out and I kicked the door shut behind me.

**A/N: Remember to review if you liked it!**


	3. Chapter 3

Cato P.O.V

The alarm clock beeps, and I look up blearily from my position on the bed to turn it off, but I accidentally smash it. Oops. Why are these stupid Capitol things so fragile? I broke a chair the other day. It was made out of glass! What the hell?! Just as I am about to drift back into unconsciousness, the door slammed open and I feel a brutal kick in my side.

"Wake up you lazy asshole", my mentor Brutus said, giving me another kick.

I groan and turn over.

"Meeting in 2 minutes", Brutus said, walking out and slamming the door behind him.

I get up, throw on a shirt and a pair of cargo shorts, and get out of my room, slumping onto a chair around the dining table, where Enobaria, another mentor, Brutus and Clove, the other District 2 tribute.

"Tired, are we?" Enobaria says, grinning and flashing her sharpened teeth at me.

"Hmm.", I grunt.

"So today you will be spending time with your stylists to prepare for the Tributes Parade. Do whatever they say, and don't object. During the actual parade, make sure you act and look tough. You want to intimidate the other tributes, so they know who is boss. Got that?" Brutus explained.

Me and Clove curtly nodded, and stepped into the lift.

"Acting toughs not really going to be a challenge," Clove asked, smirking.

"You got that right," I said as we descended downwards.

/

Katniss P.O.V

I laid on the bench in the stylists room, dressed only in a plastic gown. _God, I hope my stylist isn't some crazy Capitol maniac who makes me look retarded_, I thought. The door opened, and a surprisingly normal person with dark skin came into the room. The only strange thing about him was that he had gold eyelashes. He held out his hand, and I shook it.

"Hello Katniss. My name is Cinna. I am here to help you in any way that I can. I won't try to pretend to understand what you are going through, but I will try to make it easier for you."

"Thank you."

"Now, on to the Tributes Parade outfit. Are you afraid of fire?"

/

Cato P.O.V

Finally, we were at the start of the Tributes Parade. My stylists were milling around me, making last minute touches to my outfit. I looked over to scan the other tributes, to size up the competition, and that's when I saw her. Katniss Everdeen. Obviously, I didn't know her name right then, but she looked stunning. She was wearing a skintight black outfit, with a v neck leading down to just above her cleavage and a cape behind her. She was talking to her mentor, but she sensed me looking at her and stared right back.

I don't know what intrigued me about her, whether it was her steely eyes filled with fire or the fact that she was not backing down. Somehow, I could tell that this girl was different.

/

Katniss P.O.V

I was talking to Haymitch, when I felt a pair of eyes staring at me. I turned around and saw it was the boy from District 2. He was shirtless except from golden pauldrons on his shoulders, and was also wearing a gold helmet with small wings on them, and gold leg armour. I met his gaze, and I wouldn't back down.

I don't know what intrigued me about him, whether it was his icy cold eyes or his piercing gaze, but there was something about him that I found intriguing.

I found a couple of fingers snapping in front of my face.

"Katniss, you have to get on the chariot now," Haymitch said.

I turned back to the District 2 boy, and found him smirking at me, so I smirked back.

I got on the chariot and Cinna set the capes behind me and Peeta aflame.

After a few minutes, when all of the Districts were on the parade, all that could be heard were female shouts of 'Cato!' and male shouts of 'Katniss!'. Peeta tried to grab my hand, but I slapped it away.

"Haymitch said we should hold hands, and that it would help us get sponsors. You know, show them we are working together," Peeta explained.

"I don't give a damn what Haymitch said. I'm not acting all lovey dovey with you, and I am definitely NOT in an alliance with you. I'll make my own decisions, not some snivelling little wimp like you," I growled.

/

After the parade, I looked over to see where the District 2 guy was, but he had already left, so I started to walk back to the lift to go back to the penthouse. I rounded the corner and leaning against the wall was Cato, without his helmet on.

"So, Twelve, you looked pretty nice out there," he said.

"I do have a name, you know."

"Katniss, right? I guessed that was you with all the fire and the hot outfit."

"Right you are. I'm assuming you are Cato, then?"

"You are correct."

By then, I realized that he had backed me into a corner.

"What are you doing, Cato?"

"Just going to have some fun." He advanced even further.

"Whoa, big guy, I hardly even know you?"

"So?"

"So, I'm not doing this with you."

With that, I ducked under his arm and rounded the corner, not before looking back at him, winking and saying "See you around, Cato."

**Thanks for reading! Remember, review telling me what you thought!**


	4. Chapter 4

Training: Day One

"Up,up,up it's a big day!" Effie trills, opening the door and turning on the light.

"Piss off Effie."

I wish I could have seen her face, but my face was buried in a pillow, as I hadn't moved after being woken up. She marched into the room and shrieked "LANGUAGE!" right into my ear.

Reluctantly, I blearily climbed out of bed, and got changed into the red, white and black training outfit. I stomped out of my room, only bothering to braid my hair before grabbing a quick breakfast of sausage, egg and fried bread from the Avoxes, which afterwards I walked into the lift, where Peeta was currently waiting to go down. Unluckily for me, he tried to talk to me.

"So where are you heading first in training?" he asked.

"Why should you care?"

"Because Haymitch said that we should stay together more, to show we are in an alliance to…"

"Before he could say anything more, I interrupted loudly, my rage building inside of me: "Why the hell would I want to be in an alliance with you, you snivelling little twat? I already told you and Haymitch I don't want anything to do with you. You'd just be a liability because you're so useless. If you come anywhere near me in the arena, I'll cut you to pieces!" By now it was full-blown shouting.

Peeta's eyes looked so wide they were about to pop out of their sockets. "Fine, but at least stay away from the weapons in training. You don't want the Careers making you a target."

"Fine," I spat.

By now we had descended far enough to reach underground, where the Training Centre was. As we stepped out of the lift, all of the other Tributes were already standing around a middle aged woman with dark skin, who I guessed must be the Training Overseer. Me and Peeta joined the crowd.

"Now that all of us have arrived, I shall begin. My name is Atala, and I will be your Training Overseer. First: rules of training. No fights outbreaking that are not organized; no objects are to be taken out of the centre and no bringing anything into the training centre. Now, in 3 weeks 23 of you will be dead. Most of you will die of natural causes such as poison, dehydration or starvation."

I felt a pair of eyes on me, and I met them. It was Cato, from District 2; the one I met after the Tribute's parade. Was he checking me out? I think he was. He looked really good, like really _really_ good, with his muscles rippling underneath his training outfit. He noticed me staring back at him and he smirked, so I tore my eyes off him and back to the instructor.

"All I'm saying is that you don't want to miss out on the survival skills. Some of them may even save your life. Dismissed."

I headed over to the snares station, and Peeta meekly followed me. The entire station was decorated with trees, and the only materials you were allowed to use were a knife, string and any plant resources. Of course, I already knew all of the snares from Gale teaching me, so the trainer there left me to my own devices, but Peeta was failing miserably. I set up a trap to catch someones leg and suspend them in the air, and I called Peeta to me and he fell right into it. He was so gullible and stupid.

I set up another trap, design to catch someone in a plant-woven net, while eyeing the Careers enviously. They were all using weapons: Cato was decimating dummies, the girl from 2 was practicing with knives, the boy from 1 was throwing spears and the blond bimbo from 1 was doing terribly with a bow. I decided to show the Careers who was boss.

Just as I was about to go, Peeta, grabbed my hand, somehow out of the trap. "Don't Katniss."

"Get. Your. Hand. Off. Me." I spat venomously, so he let go.

I marched over to the blond Career girl, and snatched the bow off her, which she looked very shocked at. I grabbed a quiver of arrows, strapped it to my shoulders and began to shoot at the targets. I shot all 10 of them in the bullseye, each making a satisfying 'thunk' as it landed.

I turned around to see everyone's reaction, and they had all stopped what they were doing; even Cato, who had stopped decapitating dummies. After a while, everyone went back to what they were doing, and I resumed practicing with my bow.

After a few more shot targets, I felt a presence behind me, turned around and saw the girl from 2 standing there.

"Not bad, firegirl. Not bad at all." She stuck out her hand. "I'm Clove."

"Katniss."

"Any other weapons you're good at?"

"Knives, but I'm not as good as the bow with them."

"Obviously, no one is better than me."

I grinned. "Is that a challenge?"

She grinned back and said "You're on."

We both headed over to the knife station, and selected moving targets. As they came out, we began to fling our knives at the targets. It was head-to-head, right until the end. It was one second left and Clove had finished all of her targets. I still had two left, so I tried to throw to knives at once. One of the targets was hit dead on, but the other was a little off.

"Ha! Told you I'm the best! Anyway, see you around Katniss." She smiled and walked off.

I began to walk over to the plants station, but I was stopped by a large figure. I looked up and was met with those piercing blue eyes again.

"You seem pretty good, Katniss. Good enough to be a Career."

"Is that an invitation?"

"Would you like one?"

"Maybe."

In a Capitol voice, Cato said "Would you, Katniss Everdeen, do me the honour of joining our Career alliance?" Which we both burst out laughing at, earning weird looks from the other tributes.

"Sure."

"Good." With that, he gave me a smile that looked like he was actually happy to have me with him.

**A/N: Bit of an anti-climatic ending, but I couldn't think of anything else to end it with. Review if you liked :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: WARNING! This chapter contains badly written fluff!**

Training: Day one continued

I walked over to the plants station after Cato's invitation, but the District 5 girl with red hair was already there. I leant by the wall, waiting to her to finish, thoughts racing through my head: _Am I really a Career_ _now? How will my district react?_

I felt a tentative tap on my shoulder, and turned around to face the red-headed girl again.

"Um...I'm finished."

I nodded appreciatively, and she said "Nice shooting by the way."

"Thanks."

I smiled and she walked off to another station. I turned to face to the plant station, and began the quiz on poisonous plants. I was half way through until a commotion started in the middle of the training centre. I turned around to find it was the District 1 slut and Cato. Everyone in the room had stopped to look at them.

"How the hell can you do this to me? You're just going to leave me and forget about me?" She shrieked.

He shrugged and casually said "Yep."

She tried to slap him, but he easily dodged by stepping back. "You'll regret this Cato," she spat and then she stormed off.

I walked over to Cato.

"What the hell was that about?"

"She's not a Career anymore. She wasn't good enough, and we don't want the alliance to get too big."

"How is she bad?"

"You know the bow she was using? Well that's her speciality weapon?"

I scoffed and said "Really? Wow she really is crap."

"Yeah she is. Plus, we already have a good bow user." At this, he winked and smiled at me and I smiled back.

A voice rang out "End of morning training session. Lunch is served."

/

After grabbing my lunch, I didn't really know where to sit, until Clove called me over.

"So you're our replacement for Glimmer?" The District 1 boy asked, and I nodded. I looked around to see where Glimmer was, and she was sitting at a table by herself, glaring at the whole table with envy and venom. I wouldn't be surprised if she hated all of us; me for taking hr place, Cato for dumping her and the other two for not standing up to her."Thank god for that. She was so bad. I'm Marvel, District 1."

"Katniss."

"So what else can the amazing firegirl do apart from bows and knives?" Cato asked who was sitting next to me.

"Shut up, _muscle boy_," I said, slapping his arm playfully.

"Muscle boy?Really?" he said laughing.

"Yep, and you'd better get used to it."

Then I noticed Clove and Marvel eyeing us strangely, with eyebrows raised.

/

After lunch was over, we were allowed back inside of the training room, and Cato called me over to the swords station.

"Can you do anything with melee combat?" he asked.

"No, why should I?"

"Because if you are going to be a Career, you will be taking part in the bloodbath, and you may not get to the bow immediately."

"Alright."

"Only if you teach be how to use a bow."

I huffed. "Fine."

He grinned and said: "Let's start with this one."

He grabbed the biggest sword on the weapons rack, and placed it in my hands. But the second he let go, the sword smashed onto the ground, making a loud noise.

I pouted at him. "You did that on purpose." Then he laughed.

"Alright, alright. Here, try this one."

He grabbed a shortsword off the rack, about a foot and a half length, and placed it in my hand. It fit perfectly.

"Think of the sword as more of an extension of you're arm, rather than something you are holding."

He closed his hand around mine, to direct me where to hit, and I felt sparks racing through me, threatening to catch alight. After a while, I got used to the feel of the sword and became pretty good at it.

"Ready for your bow lessons?" I asked him.

"Sure," he said smiling. When he smiled, I got a strange sensation in my stomach I hadn't felt before.

We headed over to the bow station, and I showed him how to use it properly.

"Don't straighten your arm completely, otherwise you will hit your arm with the string, and hold your back straight." I instructed.

He fired and it didn't even hit the target, so I cracked up laughing.

"You're so bad at this!"

He pouted and stuck out his tongue at me.

Soon afterwards, Atala called out "End of today's training session."

"See you tomorrow, _muscle boy_."

"See you tomorrow, _firegirl_."

/

Over dinner, Peeta and I discussed what we did in training with Haymitch.

"And what did you do, Katniss?" Haymitch inquired.

"I used a bow and the knives."

"Oh yeah? And how did that help you?"

"I got into the Careers."

That was the first time I ever saw Haymitch shocked.

"Well I'll be damned. The first District 12 volunteer _and_ Career."

Peeta looked really depressed, probably from being constantly overshadowed. I yawned and announced I was going to bed, but not before whispering into Peeta's ear: "The first cannon will be for you."

**A/N: 5 reviews and I'll post the next chapter! Just kidding, I find that really annoying :P Hope you liked it! :D**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Training day two

Peeta and I headed down to the training centre the same as yesterday, but instead of staying away from them, I joined the Careers straight away. Clove and Marvel only gave me a nod, but Cato smiled at me, and there was that feeling in my stomach again. _What is it about this boy that makes me feel strange every time he smiles at me_? I thought.

"What are we doing today?" I asked them.

"The Gauntlet," Clove said grinning, pointing to a number of raised platforms. Another tribute was currently on it. The idea was to jump from platform to platform and finish in the shortest amount of time, but the catch was there were people swinging bats at your legs, trying to hit you off.

"How about a race?" I suggested.

"What do you mean," Clove asked.

"Me versus you, and then Marvel versus Cato and the winners face off."

We all agreed, and me and Clove were up first. We both swiftly start to leap between the platforms, but then the bats came at us. Her strategy was to charge through all of them, but I managed to dodge most of them, only taking a few hits. Eventually, I managed to beat Clove, coming just ahead of her.

"Fair...play…firegirl," she said in between breaths.

Marvel and Cato went up next. Cato obviously won.

"Me versus you then, firegirl," he said, smirking.

"Lets go, muscle boy."

"Are you ever going to stop calling me that?"

"Nope," I said, popping the 'p' at the end.

Cato adopted the same strategy as Clove, but he was much better at it than her as he was much larger, and I used the same strategy as before. It was exactly a draw, right until the end, when I shoved him slightly, making him stumble and I speeded ahead to finish.

"Yes! I win! In your face Cato!" I said, doing a fist pump.

"You cheated!"

"Hey, I never heard we couldn't do that!"

He smirked. "You've got some nerve, firegirl."

/

After lunch, Cato announced: "I can't be arsed to do any more training; who wants to go for a swim?"

I was confused. "I thought we weren't allowed in the pool."

"Technically we're not, since several people tried to kill themselves in it, but Brutus told me the passcode." He said and winked.

We snuck into the swimming pool, after checking no-one was looking.

"Wow." I said. The pool was massive, and much cleaner than the lake in District 12, and about 50 metres in length. Luckily, there were still a few training-issue swimming outfits left on the side, so we got changed into them. When I saw Cato, I nearly had to stop myself drooling. There was no trace of fat on him, just pure muscle with a toned chest and perfect abs, and damn he looked good. There were also scars littered over his body, some small, some very large, and a very large one across his chest. I didn't ask about them in case I was being insensitive. Unluckily for me, he noticed me staring.

"See something you like, Twelve?" He said smirking.

"Not really, I've seen better."

"Oh yeah? Like when?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you really want to know all the gory details?" He stopped talking after that.

/

Training day three: the day before the interviews

At training, Clove and I trained separately from Marvel and Cato. We practised our knife skills, as I had no need to practice with the bow. We both picked our favourite knives: mine were long and sleek and hers were fairly short and jagged.

In the middle of practice, she turned to me and said: "What's going on with you and Cato?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well around you he seems completely different. Usually he's all cold and brooding. It's like you are activating his emotions for the first time. Believe me, I've known him nearly all my life." This new information astounded me. He didn't seem like the type to distance himself from people.

"I don't really know what's happening. We're friends, I guess."

She snorted "Cato's not like that with ANY of his friends. He must think of you as someone really special."

At that moment I heard Cato's voice. "Katniss! Do you wanna spar? Marvel got too tired."

"Sure."

I jogged over to him, and picked up my shortsword. We began to fight, blocking and attacking each other. I accidentally lunged too far though, and Cato sliced, making a massive gash in my arm.

"Shit." Cato yelled, coming towards me. "Are you OK?"

"What does it look like? I got a massive hole in my arm!"

Cato scooped me up in his arms, bridal style. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"Taking you to the medical centre."

"This isn't necessary. I can still walk you know!"

"Yeah, but it's my fault so I'll take you there."

It actually felt really nice in his arms. I leant my head against his chest, and those sparks threatening to catch alight raced through me again. As he walked, I began to think: _Does he really care about me? Do I care about him? I do have some kind of feelings for him I guess. _

Cato took me inside the medic centre, and into a nurses station, and put me down onto the bench inside it. The nurse was a Avox, so she couldn't say anything. Cato held my hand through the whole thing, while she rubbed some clear ointment onto the gash and I hissed in pain. She then wrapped it in a bandage, and the pain soon subsided. I nodded at her in thanks, and she smiled and walked off. After she had left, Atala, the Training Overseer, walked in the room.

"Are you okay Katniss?" She asked and I nodded.

"Now, because it was an unauthorized and unsupervised sparring match, Katniss gets to choose the punishment, if she wishes."

I looked over at Cato, and he was making puppy dog faces with his cute eyes at me, and I laughed. I turned back to Atala and shook my head.

"A punishment won't be necessary." I said.

"As you wish. However, you are unfit to continue with your training, and must stop from doing so for the rest of the day." Atala said, and she walked out.

"Come on, let's go," Cato said. He took my hand, and we both walked out.

"You know, I think I have reconsidered your punishment."

"Oh yeah?" He said to more, looking confused.

"Yep. You have to stay with me for the rest of the day, so I'm not by myself."

He laughed. "That's not really a punishment, is it?"

"No, but you still have to do it."

"Where do you want to go?"

"How about the roof of the training centre?"

"Sure, let's go."

We left and went to the roof, still hand-in-hand. The roof was surprisingly beautiful, with trees and multicoloured flowers everywhere. We sat in the middle of a grass clearing on the roof and lay down, and he began to absentmindedly play with my hair. It was nice. Peaceful. Eventually, he had played with my hair to get it out of it's braid. I began to put it back again, but he gently grabbed my hand.

"Don't. It looks better down." And he smiled at me with a strange look in his eyes that made me feel warm and fuzzy, so I kept it down, and we settled into another comfortable silence, just watching the clouds go by. After a while, I decided to say something.

"Want to play a game?" I asked.

"Which one?"

"How about Questions?"

"What's that?"

"It's where one of us asks each other a question, and they have to answer it. You know, to get to know each other."

"Sure. You can go first."

"Why did you volunteer?"

His faced changed slightly, and I could tell he was thinking. "Peer pressure, I guess." He said. "My parents wanted me to volunteer, and my father always told me I was nothing if I didn't volunteer, and I believed him. OK, my turn. What's District 12 like? I always imagined it to be a peaceful place?"

"Not really, actually. Many people die of starvation, but we don't get so much trouble with the Peacekeepers or the Capitol."

"So then how are you..." he trailed off, gesturing to my body.

"Are you calling me fat?"

He laughed "No, but your not exactly dying of starvation, are you?"

"That's because I hunt illegally outside of District 12."

"My, my. You are full of surprises, aren't you?"

"My turn," I said. I was silent for a while, but I finally worked up the courage to ask him "What are all the scars on your body from?"

At this, his mood considerably darkened, and I realised I had touched a nerve. "Oh…sorry," I said to him.

"No it's fine." He said, and we sat in silence before taking a deep breath and saying "A few of them are from the Academy, the place where we train for the Hunger Games, but most of them are from my dad." He took another deep breath. "Whenever me or my two younger brothers did anything slightly out of line, he used to hit us. I always took the beating for my brothers, as they were too young for it. He always called it 'necessary discipline', but he just liked to feel strong by beating smaller people up."

"This one," he said, lifting up his shirt and pointing to the very long one across his chest. "This one is where my dad thought my mom was sleeping with another guy for being 5 minutes late back home with the groceries."

I laid my hand across his and rubbed circles over it with my hand.

"Come on," I said, getting up. "We'd better get back for the private sessions."

He nodded and got up, and we walked back to the elevator together.

"Thank you for sharing that with me, Cato," I said.

Before stepping into the elevator, I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek, which he looked happy at. I don't know what drove me to do it, but whenever he was around my day always got a whole lot better.

**A/N: Yay! Longest chapter yet! For the people who came to this story for the actual 'Hunger Games', don't worry, that will be in another 2 or 3 chapters. Or 4. Depend on how much detail I put in.**

**Plus I need a book cover for this story to make it look nicer! Please help! **

**Thanks for reading :D**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Training day three private sessions – the day before the interviews

After our get-to-know session on the roof, Cato and I headed back down into the training centre, our hands clasped together. We came to a corridor where all of the tributes were already lined up against a wall, waiting to go in. As we entered, Clove and Marvel nodded at us both, but Glimmer, seeing our entwined hands, gave me the most vicious glare I had ever seen. Cato smiled at me and went to join Clove down the line, and I shoved Peeta out of the way to get to my spot. We sat in an awkward silence until the District 11 boy, Thresh, had finished his private training session.

"Katniss Everdeen," a Peacekeeper by the door announced.

I got up and started to walk towards the door, but Peeta called my name, and I turned to face him with a scow and my arms crossed. "Shoot straight," he said with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Piss off." I told him bluntly, and his smile fell. With a smirk on my face, I marched into the training room, but then I realised I had no idea what I was going to do. I decided to show them what I wanted to do, even though I couldn't right now.

I took two dummies to the snare station, and hung ropes around both of their wrists and ankles, holding them in place. I marched over to the knives station, grabbing my favourites, and began to throw them all at the dummies, not caring where it hit. I then took my bow and fired an arrow directly into both of their heads.

After nearly destroying the dummies, I went to the fire-making station and took some fuel and matches, and then went to the camouflage station and took some blood-red ink, while the Gamemakers looked at me curiously. I then took the supplies to the dummies, and then drenched the floor around them in gasoline, and painted two names on the dummies while blocking the Gamemakers view. Then, I set the fuel alight with the matches, and walked out of the room without any direction, only pausing to look back to see the Gamemakers as they looked with horror at the dummies with the words PRESIDENT SNOW and PEETA MELLARK painted on them burn.

/

After travelling back up to the apartment, I didn't talk to anyone for the rest of the evening until the show announcing the scores came on the television.

"As you know, the tributes have been evaluated carefully on their abilities and have been judged on a score out of 12." Caesar Flickerman said. "Marvel Clapton: 9. Glimmer Richmond:6. Clove Motley: 10. Cato Taylor:11".

_Good for them, _I thought. I wouldn't be surprised if I got a 1. I blocked out all of the sound until District 12.

"Peeta Mellark: 5" Peeta looked like he was about to cry, and he ran into his room.

"Katniss Everdeen: 11." I looked up in shock at the screen. Why the hell did they do that? They aren't making me a target since I'm already in the Careers.

I saw Haymitch beckoning me into a private room. I followed him in and he shut the door.

"We need to talk," he said.

"About what?"

"Peeta tells me you've been getting friendly with District 2."

"So what if I am?"

"You shouldn't trust him."

"Why not?"

"Because he's a goddamn Career Katniss! He was trained to kill people like you! He's using you!" There was a sharp crack as my hand hit his cheek.

"No he's not using me! You think I wouldn't be able to tell? I don't need you to tell me what to do! You know why? Because I'm not a snivelling crybaby like Peeta and I can make my own decisions!"

I stormed out to the lift and pressed the button for the roof, but Haymitch tried to get in the lift with me, but I gave him a steely gaze.

"Back the fuck off and leave me alone," I said firmly, and Haymitch seemed to give up trying to reason with me.

I waited until the lift had ascended to the roof, and then crossed it the lean on the railings overlooking the entire Capitol. After a while, I heard heavy footsteps behind be and someone joined me, leaning on the railings.

"What are you doing up here?" He asked.

"My mentor wouldn't get off my back."

"About what?"

"You."

"Why would you get into an argument about me?"

"He wanted me to stay away from you."

"And?"

"I told him no." Cato laughed at that, and I leant my head against his shoulder.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" I asked him.

"Not really. What about you?"

"Yeah. I don't like speaking in front of a live audience."

He stepped back from the railing and held out his hand. "We'd better go back before my escort goes crazy."

I took his hand and we walked back to the lift together. He pressed the button for 12 and then 2, and then turned his head and smiled at me. It didn't take long to get back to my floor, and just as I was about to walk out of the lift, he grabbed my hand, pulled me back to him and pressed his lips softly to mine. Those sparks I felt before when we touched were nothing compared to this. It felt like fire racing through my veins. It was a tender, soft, close mouthed kiss, and as I wrapped my arms around his neck he snaked his arms around my back and pulled me closer to him. After about a minute, he pulled away.

"See you tomorrow Katniss," he said, giving me one more small kiss.

"Bye Cato." I said, walking back to my room.

**A/N: Yay! It finally happened! Sorry if it's a bit short :P**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Interviews

I spent the morning with Cinna, while he was giving me the dress I would wear for the interviews and doing my makeup, but I couldn't concentrate and all I could think about was Cato. _Was that kiss actually real? _I thought. By the end of the process, I was wearing a long flowing red dress, with black and orange lining on the ends of it. My hair was down and curled, hung over one shoulder. I also had black smoky eyeshadow on. I looked completely different: beautiful yet dangerous.

"Now Katniss, do you remember what your angle is?" Cinna asked me.

"No, and I honestly couldn't care less," I said.

"Very well then. But at least remember to twirl." he said, leading me out of the stylist's room. "Go down that corridor and turn right."

I followed his instructions, and found the line of tributes waiting backstage. My eyes found Cato staring at me, with his jaw dropped. He was wearing a grey jacket and trousers with a blue shirt. I smirked and purposefully brushed his hand lightly on the way past him. I took my place between Peeta and Thresh and Thresh nodded at me curtfully. I began to watch the interviews by the screen on the opposite wall to where we were standing. Glimmer was first, and predictably she acted like a slut. Marvel was witty and charming. Clove was vicious, and then Cato's interview came.

"So Cato, any special girl waiting for you back home?"

"Well there is one. But she's definitely not at home."

"So she's here?"

"Yes she is."

At this, all of the Capitol women in the audience gasped and some fainted, while Clove leaned forward and gave me a knowing smirk. In the next interviews, all of the girls were asked if they thought they were 'Cato's special girl'. All of them said no, and Glimmer looked pissed at the fact that she never got to be asked. Eventually, it was my turn for the interview.

"Katniss Everdeen, District 12!" Caesar Flickerman said. I stepped onto the stage, and blind lights shone on my face, and I sat on the couch next to Caesar.

"My I say, Katniss, you do look beautiful today."

"Thank you."

"So Katniss, how exactly did you get that 11?"

"Well, I can't tell you that. It's a secret." I said and he laughed, and the Gamemakers watching looked satisfied with my answer.

"Yes, I suppose it is. Now, that was quite an entrance you made at the Tributes Parade. Was being lit on fire scary?"

"I didn't find it scary, but you should have seen my District partner. He was so scared he was about to pee himself!" The audience laughed at this.

"I have to say, they did look amazing."

"Well I'm wearing them today. Would you like to see?"

"Go on ahead." I stepped into the middle of the stage, and began to spin round and round. Fire engulfed my body, to the gasps and cheers of the Capitol audience. Eventually, I stopped and sat back on the couch.

"That was something. That really was something. Now, after the reaping your sister you volunteered for came to see you, am I correct?" I nodded.

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her that I would win and come back to her, and I will. Whatever it takes."

"Final question. Do you think you could be Cato's special girl?" I didn't say anything, but I blushed slightly. _Since when do I blush? _A camera switched to Cato smiling backstage. "Well, audience, it looks like we have found Cato's lucky girl!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, from District 12, Katniss Everdeen, the Girl on Fire!" Caesar announced, to cheers from the audience, and I walked off the stage.

Peeta's interview was the last one and I didn't pay any attention until Caesar asked the question: "Any girl back home?"

"Uh..no." Peeta said nervously, a furious blush on his face.

"Come on! With that face, there must be one."

"Well there is one, and I've been trying to get to know her better but she hasn't really been responding."

"I'll tell you what. You win this thing, and then she'll have to go out with you."

"I would, but winning won't help, because she came here with me." The audience gasped while I felt fury and rage building up in me. How dare he do that?! I turned to look at Cato and I could see the anger in his face too.

"Ladies and gentlemen, from District 12, Peeta Mellark!" Caesar announced, and Peeta began to walk offstage, and I went to meet him.

The second he walked out I punched him straight in the jaw. Damn, that hurt my hand. He fell to the floor, and I kicked him in his most sensitive area, and he groaned in pain.

"Why the hell did you do that?" I shouted, and kicked him again. "You made me look weak and pathetic." I felt Haymitch and Cato come up behind me and pull me back from him.

"Why did you tell him to say that in front of the whole world?!" I shouted at Haymitch.

"Believe me, I didn't." He said. "I would have told you if I knew."

"You're pathetic." I told Peeta, and I was about to kick him again when Cato pulled me into his arms.

"Leave him, Katniss. He's not worth it. Plus, they'll be plenty of time for that in the arena." Cato said into my ear. He took my hand and pulled me towards the lift. We got in, and when we reached his floor, he said: "Remember, go straight for the bow at the bloodbath. I'll protect you if anything bad happens." He gave me a short kiss and left the lift. The second I reached the penthouse, I went straight to my room and flopped onto my bed, not caring if it ruins the dress. I turned on the T.V and watched the first channel that came on. It was coverage of the Hunger Games interviews.

"Looks like we have a love triangle developing between District 2 and District 12 this year," the rainbow-haired Capitol presenter said. "But who will Katniss choose: Cato or Peeta?" I turned off the T.V and threw the remote at the screen, cracking it.

I couldn't be bothered to do anything else, so I went straight to bed. I needed as much sleep as I could get for the massacre tomorrow.

**A/N: Yay! Hunger Games next chapter! Review telling me what you thought! Reviews make me happy :D**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

At about 6.a.m, I was taken down the lift by Haymitch to get taken to the start of the Hunger Games.

In the lift, he said to me: "I would give you some last minute advice, but I know you won't listen to me anyway."

"Damn right. Where's the wimp?"

"You mean Peeta? He wanted to be taken down separately to you, probably to avoid you after yesterday." _Not very surprising_, I thought. We arrived in a very large plain white room, where there was two aircrafts.

"Get into the one on the left." Haymitch said. I began to walk towards it, but he called my name, and I turned to face him. "Good luck," he said, and I nodded at him, and got into the aircraft. There were about half of the tributes in here, and I assumed the other half were in the other aircraft. A Peacekeeper inside it directed me to a seat on the end, and next to it was Cato, already strapped into his seat.

When he saw me, he smiled. "Hey Katniss."

"Hi." I took the seat next to him, and he kissed me on the cheek. He could be really sweet sometimes. Peacekeepers began to go round the carrier planting trackers in our arms so the Capitol could tell where we were if they couldn't see us. Soon afterwards, the carrier began to take off, and Cato clenched my hand in a bone crushing grip.

"Don't like heights?" I said.

"Shut up." He said and I laughed.

Glimmer, who was on the opposite side of the carrier glared at me when she saw Cato holding my hand. She gave me a menacing glare, and slowly drew her finger across her throat, a signal that I was going to die, but I just smiled at her sweetly.

/

The flight only took a couple of hours, so the arena can't be that far away from the Capitol. We were told to each go down different corridors, so Cato gave me a quick kiss on the lips and said "See you soon. Remember: get to the bow. Okay?" and I nodded.

I was taken down a narrow corridor, and then lead into a room with all green walls and a clear glass tube in the corner, which I assumed was going to take me into the arena soon. Cinna came into the room, holding my mockingjay pin that Madge gave to me.

"I think you forgot this," he said.

"Where did you find this? I thought I lost it."

"You left it in the stylists room before the interview."

"30 seconds remaining." A monotone female voice rang out.

"Well, you should probably get in. It's been a pleasure Katniss." I walked into the glass tube, and as it began to ascend, Cinna nodded at me.

When I was up, I looked at my surroundings. A forest. Good. All of the tributes were arranged in a semicircle around the metal Cornucopia. I looked to see if I was near Marvel, Clove or Cato but they were nearly all on the opposite side of the semicircle. The tributes who were next to me were the District 5 boy on one side, and Peeta and Glimmer on the other. Crap.

The timer began, counting down from 30, and everyone got ready to run to grab what they could. As soon as the timer sounded, I started to run, but Glimmer threw herself at me, trying to scratch me with her nails. I elbowed her in the face, and she screamed, blood pouring from her nose. I spotted the bow gleaming in the sunlight, and managed to race towards it without any more interruptions.

Under the bow was a belt full of jagged knives; Clove's favourite. I looked around to see where she was and she was fighting with the District 7 girl unarmed.

"Clove!" I called. She managed to kick the girl in the stomach to wind her, buying her enough time to look at me. I threw her the belt of knives and she grinned maliciously, getting one out and stabbing the girl.

I tried to climb on top of the Cornucopia, but it was too high, so I called Cato over. He finished killing the District 10 boy and ran over to me.

"Give me a leg up," I said. He hoisted me on top of the Cornucopia, and I started shooting, piercing the skulls or hearts of the tributes. I took down the District 3 girl, the pair from District 6, the District 7 boy, and the girls from District 8 and 10. I loaded another arrow into the bow, aiming automatically, and it came to the red-haired girl from District 5, who had grabbed a backpack and was running into the forest. She looked behind her and a mixture of pleading and fear crossed her face. For some reason, I decided to let her go and she mouthed 'thank you'.

When the massacre was over, I climbed down from the Cornucopia and Cato gathered me in his arms. "We made it."

**A/N: Review telling me what you thought! :D I wasn't too sure what to do on this chapter so sorry I it's not very good :P Plus it's a bit short. I don't have much time tonight. Sorry!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

As the hovercrafts came down to pick up the recently killed dead bodies, the cannon started booming. 13 times.

Cato smirked and said "I got three kills."

Clove had two, Marvel had one and the District 4 girl (whose name I learnt was Erica) had one as well.

Clove screwed up her face, confused and said: "But that means…."

"I got six," I said confidently. The all turned to me, shocked and Cato said jokingly:

"All bow down to the mighty firegirl!" And we both burst out laughing.

/

Later, we were all packing supplies to go out and find more tributes, as it was already getting dark. I managed to find a perfect belt with my favourite long knives in, and another quiver of arrows, but I hadn't managed to find my favourite short sword in the giant pile of supplies we had stocked inside the Cornucopia.

"Katniss." I heard a voice behind me, and turned round to face them. Cato was holding out the shortsword to me, and I took it saying thanks, but he pouted. "Don't I at least get a kiss for it?" He said, so I stepped forward, stood on my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his, but he wasn't letting me get off that easily. He cupped my face in his hands, and started running his tongue over my bottom lip, and it was one of the best feelings I had ever had.

"Cato, I think we need to get going, and acting all lovey dovey with firegirl isn't going to kill any tributes, is it?" Clove called from across the Cornucopia, and we broke apart. We had finished packing so we started to leave.

"Erica, you're on watch until we get back." Cato told her, and she nodded and went to sit at the front of the Cornucopia.

Cato held out his hand to me. "Come on, let's go," and I took his hand.

We walked away from the Cornucopia into the forest, going slowly. We tramped through the forest, not saying much, until Clove spotted a flickering light.

"Look at that! It's a fire, which means tributes!" She said with glee, rushing off towards it.

"We'd better follow her," I told Cato and Marvel and they agreed. We ran towards the light, and when we got there it was a fire in the middle of a clearing, and the District 9 girl who currently had Clove on top of her with a knife pointing straight at her face. Clove began digging knives into the girl's arm and she started screaming. I decided not to let Clove have all the fun, so I loaded my bow and shot it straight into the girl's head, and a cannon boomed.

She rounded on me with fury in her eyes: "What the fuck, Twelve?" She yelled. She advanced towards me, but stopped when she heard the sound of Cato laughing.

"Leave her alone, Clove, she's just having some fun." Cato said.

Clove huffed and stalked off, while the symbol of Panem appeared in the sky and the portraits of dead tributes began to appear: the District 3 pair, the District 4 boy, the District 5 boy, the District 6 pair, the District 7 pair, the District 8 pair, the District 9 pair, and the District 10 pair. _Looks like even that little girl from 11 even survived_, I thought.

We walked on for a bit more until Cato said "I can't be bothered to walk anymore. Let's just rest here. It's not like anyone is going to attack us."

Soon afterwards, we had made camp with a fire in the middle and sleeping bags we had taken from the Cornucopia, but I had a dilemma. I was stuck in the space between Cato and Clove, but I didn't know where to go sleep. _I definitely won't sleep anywhere near Clove, but should I go next to Cato or somewhere in the middle?_ I thought. I ended up tentatively setting down my sleeping bag in-between the both of them, but Cato reached over and pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around my waist. He was really warm, and I snuggled up to him, resting my head on his hard chest.

"Goodnight Katniss," he said, kissing the top of my head.

**A/N: Sorry for not updating for a few days! I was a bit busy D: Review telling me what you thought! :D**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

I woke up from a rustling in the trees that I heard from my hunter instincts. All of the Careers were still asleep, including a snoring Cato who I was currently lying on. I looked up in the tree, and I saw the little girl from 11 furiously sawing at a branch with a small knife. I followed the branch with my eyes until the end of it, and at the end was a tracker jacker nest. _Crap, _I thought.

In that instant I had to make a split-second decision: shoot her with the bow or try and get everyone out. I shook Cato to try and get him awake, but he was a really heavy sleeper and wouldn't wake up, so I went over to Clove and poked her. Instantly she had a knife held to my throat. I should have guessed she would sleep with them. I silently lifted a finger to my lips and pointed to Rue in the tree, who had cut halfway through the branch. We both went silently to wake Cato, and when Clove shook him he opened his eyes. _Oh, __now__ he chooses to wake up, _I thought.

At that moment was when the swarm was upon us.

"Fucking run!" I screamed, and me, Clove and Cato all started frantically running through the forest. I glanced backwards, and saw Rue grinning triumphantly and she started retreating into the trees. A piercing scream came from Marvel, who was rolling around on the ground swatting and being stung by the tracker jackers. Poor Marvel.

The remaining 3 of us carried on sprinting through the forest, and after a short time I heard the boom of a cannon, followed quickly by another. _Two cannons? Must just be a coincidence that another tribute died. _I thought.

"We'd better go back to the Cornucopia to get more supplies since we lost all of ours." Cato instructed.

We had lost everything at the camp: sleeping bags, backpacks and all of our weapons except the knives that Clove held while she slept. We began the long walk back to the Cornucopia, but when we got back, something seemed strange.

"Erica?" I called, but there was no reply. I walked closer to the Cornucopia, and when I got to the mouth of it, I saw her lying on the ground with a giant gaping hole in her chest and her eyes wide open in surprise.

Clove came to stand next to me to see what I was staring at. "Shit…" she said.

Cato walked past us into the Cornucopia. "Who the fuck did this?" He yelled.

"What?" I asked him, walking past the newly made corpse into the Cornucopia. When I saw inside it, my mouth dropped open. At least half of the supplies had disappeared. I went to check if the spare bow was still there, and thankfully it was. There was a spare set of everyone's weapons, but most of the food had gone.

"It can't have been one person doing this. Someone must have been working with the little girl!" Cato raged.

"I bet is was Thresh. They're from the same District so it would make sense." I said.

"So what's the plan?" Clove asked Cato.

"We should stay here, in case the thieves come back." We were all in agreement.

/

The next couple of days was spent moping around the Cornucopia, with the remaining three of us taking turns on watch. Nothing happened until a smoke cloud was spotted in the distance. Cato and Clove started to gather their weapons in preparation, but I stopped them.

"Wait!" I said and they both turned to me.

"What?" Clove said, clearly annoyed.

"It's obviously a trap."

"And how did you figure that out?" Cato said, looking confused.

"They're obviously wanting us to go there. I mean, who of the people remaining is actually stupid enough to light a fire or everyone to see in the middle of the day?" I said confidently, certain I was right. "I'll go instead." I suggested.

"Alright." Cato said, and then he pulled me into his arms. "Just come back safe, OK?"

"I will."

He gave me a kiss on the head and said "Good luck." I gathered my bow and quiver of arrows, and put on my belt of long thin knives, but I had lost my shortsword at the tracker jacker incident. I began running towards the smoke, and when I reached the forest I took out my bow, and began a slow jog.

Eventually I came to a small clearing, with a pile of burning branches and leaves. I didn't advance any further because I wanted to check for any traps. I saw a net in the trees with spikes on it, which could drop and instantly kill the person beneath it and next to the trap, sitting in the trees: Rue, the little girl from 11.

I strung my bow and aimed an arrow straight at her heart. She saw me aiming at her, and screamed: "PEETA!"

Someone came charging through into the clearing from the left over a small hill, and I turned for a second to see it was in fact Peeta. _Peeta's in on this too? _I thought. Shock ran through me for a second before I turned back to Rue.

I took aim and Peeta screamed: "NO!" I released the arrow and it sailed through the air, impaling the little girl. A cannon boomed as her lifeless form dropped from the tree onto the ground.

Another person came crashing through the other side of the clearing. It was Thresh. He briefly ran over to Rue's corpse and whispered "I'm sorry," while closing her eyes. "Run! I'll cover you!" Thresh screamed to Peeta.

I managed to throw a knife into Peeta's leg while he ran away, injuring him, but then Thresh charged at me. I took out two knives, ready to defend myself.

"You're going to pay for killing her." Thresh shouted angrily, and the he struck. He continually tried to hit me with his sword he was wielding, and I managed to block all of his strikes with my knives. When I saw he was getting tired, I thrust one of my knives towards him which he blocked with his sword, but I got the other knife behind the hilt of the sword, twisting the knife and forcing the sword out of his hand.

He began to run away, as he had no weapon, into the forest on the other side to were Peeta ran away. In that moment, I had two choices: go after the one I hate, or go after the bigger threat.

**A/N: Who do you think she will go after: Peeta or Thresh? Review telling me what you thought :D**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Cato P.O.V

I was on watch again, while Clove was resting inside the Cornucopia. _I hope Katniss is alright. What if she finds Thresh and dies? I should never have let her go. _I thought. Soon after thinking that, a cannon went off, and I could feel the dread creeping up inside of me.

"No!" I involuntarily shouted.

I decided I couldn't leave her. I had to know if it was her or not. I began to reach for my sword, ready to go and find her, but I felt a hand on my arm. I turned to face Clove, who was now standing next to me with a sorrowful look on her face.

"I know what you are thinking Cato. I've known you for years, and I know you care about her Cato. Don't try and find her; if she is alive she will find her way back here," she advised.

I looked at her, and then back at the forest, still indecisive of what I should do. I decided to wait here, and went to sit at the mouth of the Cornucopia, staring at the forest to see if Katniss would come back to me.

/

Peeta P.O.V

I stumbled through the forest, blood pouring from the knife in my leg. I frantically looked back, worried that Katniss would appear at any moment.

_Why would she do this? She just killed a little girl for god's sake. _I thought. _She seems completely different from the girl I fell in love with. What happened to the girl that seemed so innocent when she was little, and the girl who provided for everyone?_

I crashed through a row of bushes, hoping to use them as cover from the murderer that could be chasing me. After a while of more painful agony, I came across a stream.

/

Katniss P.O.V 

_I just killed a little girl_. The thought bounced around in my head, but I refused to concentrate on that in the moment. _She had to die anyway, so what does it matter?_ I thought, but I pushed it outside of my head. I followed the trail of blood that Peeta had left from the knife I had buried in his leg.

The trail led me to a clump of bushes, and past it was a straight flowing river with several platforms of rocks. I took out an arrow and strung my bow, in case there was anyone around here in hiding. I slowly crept along the edge of the rocks, not wanting anyone to hear me.

The trail of blood suddenly stopped, so I would have to search the region for Peeta. I crept inside a dark cave, with mould and moisture all over the walls. I couldn't see anyone inside, so I turned around, about to head out.

A shadow leaped at me from the side of the cave, reaching its arms weakly around my neck in an attempt to strangle me. Obviously it was Peeta, but he took me surprise and I accidentally dropped my bow. I reached around his leg for the knife I had thrown at him earlier, and yanked it out causing more blood to gush out, making him scream in pain and he collapsed to the floor.

I slung my bow back around my shoulders, cast away the bloody knife and turned to look at him with a triumphant smirk on my face. He had dirt covering his face and hair, which would explain why I couldn't see him in the darkness. Tears were streaking down his face as he sobbed "Why are you doing this?"

I shrugged. "Because everyone will die eventually."

"Are you going to kill me?" He said, and I thought about it while looking outside the cave. I couldn't go after Thresh as it was getting dark, so I decided at least someone should have fun with him.

"Actually no. I have other plans for you." I said with a grin on my face.

/

Cato P.O.V

It had been hours, and I couldn't wait any longer to find out what happened to Katniss. I was just about to grab my sword and run in her direction, when there was a rustling in the trees to the left of where Katniss went. Clove was instantly alert with her knives.

A dark haired girl appeared at the forest with a bow strung around her shoulder, dragging the other District 12 Tribute behind her. I ran over to her and crushed my lips to hers, picking her up and swinging her around. _Thank god she's alive_ I thought.

After a short while we broke apart and she laughed and asked "What was that for?"

"I thought you were dead! Are you OK?" I said, checking her body for any injuries.

She laughed again. "Cato, I'm fine, apart from this wimp who tried to strangle me." She said, kicking the blond haired District 12 boy in the side with her boot. "Plus, I found the culprits of our problem."

"Who was it?"

"Peeta, Rue and Thresh. I killed Rue, but Thresh got away, and you know where Peeta is." She explained.

"So what's he here for then?"

She grinned wickedly. "A present for Clove."

Upon hearing this, Clove grinned and gathered up her favourite knives. "Come on, 12." She said menacingly, dragging him behind the Cornucopia.

/

Katniss P.O.V

After a while, we had a fire going just outside the Cornucopia with a sleeping mat and a sleeping bag zipped down to form a sort of duvet cover. Me and Cato climbed under, and we settled into our normal position with my head on his chest. He began to undo my braid and started twirling parts of my hair in his fingers affectionately, just like he did on the roof of the Training Centre. I heard a scream come from Peeta who was still being tortured by Clove. Damn, she could drag someone's death out. I decided to ask Cato a question.

"Cato, what exactly…are we?"

"Um…Careers?"

"No, in our relationship. Are we like a couple?" Another scream.

"Do you want to be?" He asked me with a hopeful look in his piercing blue eyes.

"Are you asking me to be you girlfriend?"

"I guess so, yeah." He said, and another scream was heard from Peeta. _Does Peeta ever shut up?_ I thought.

"Of course I will!" I said, and he looked gleeful at my answer, and bent down to kiss me sweetly and softly on the lips.

We stayed quiet after that and Cato wrapped his arms around me while we both looked into the flickering fire. We were both content with the silence and our conversation beforehand, and the last thing I heard before drifting off to sleep was a final scream of pain from Peeta and the boom of the cannon.

**A/N: Yay! I had fun writing this :P Review telling me what you thought and who you think will die next! :D Thanks to all of the people who have reviewed so far, really appreciate it :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Yay! 50 reviews! Thank you everyone so much for reviewing! :DDDDD**

Chapter 13

_I woke up in a pure white room, so bright it was almost blinding. How the hell did I get here? The screen switched on, and I could recognise the scene on it. It was me in the place where the fight with Rue, Thresh and Peeta took place. I had my bow and arrow aimed at something in the tree, except instead of Rue it was…Prim. Me on the screen had a steely look on my face, not seeming to recognise the girl in the tree. I tried to hit the screen, trying to get myself on the screen not to shoot her, but a strange force held me back. On the screen, I released the arrow, and it flew through the air, impaling Prim in the heart, and the screen turned black._

_To my horror, the body of Prim appeared in the room with me, and I screamed, trying to get as far away from her as possible. She got up off the floor, walking towards me with a distant look in her eyes and the bloody arrow still through her chest. "Why did you do it, Katniss? Why?" She moaned, still stumbling towards me._

"_I didn't do anything!" I screamed, trying to back away from her, but I had already reached the wall behind me and could not back off any more. _

"_You're a murderer. A monster. You kill children. People like you deserve to die." She still droned on. Suddenly, a knife covered in blood appeared in her hand, and I screamed as my own sister plunged a knife straight into me._

_/_

I woke up, drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. It was only just dawn, with the sun barely visible and Cato and Clove were still asleep. Somehow I had rolled away from Cato in the night, and was just lying on the bare mud and grass. I re-braided my hair, grabbed my bow and headed into the forest, needing some space.

However, the silence didn't help. I could still hear the voices echoing, calling me names. _Murderer, _they whisper. _Monster, devil, killer_, they echo.

"Leave me alone!" I shouted to the silence.

I flew into a rage, shooting any living thing in sight: birds, squirrels, anything I could find, and ripping the arrows out of their bodies. I saw something moving through the trees and instantly turned to see what it was. It was a parachute. It floated down to the floor, and I opened it. All that was inside was a note, and I unfolded it to see what it said.

_I wouldn't get to close to that one. The Gamemakers aren't happy about you two. Tributes aren't supposed to get close to one another inside the Gamesr, especially one from an outlying district. Stay away from him if you don't want the President after you._

_P.S. Someone is following you. I'm not allowed to say who._

_-H_

I felt anger as I saw the first part, but the second part of it made me wary. _Who could it be? There are only 6 of us left, and I doubt it's Cato or Clove_ I thought. I decided to head back, as Haymitch's note had warned me of the nearby unknown Tribute. As I walked back, I heard Cato shout my name. Was the Cornucopia being attacked? When I got back, Cato was shouting my name out towards the forest.

"What's up?" I asked him, running over to him.

"You've been gone for ages!"

I didn't want to tell him the truth, so I just said. "I just went for a walk."

He pulled me into a tight hug, causing me to drop my bow, and said "I don't want to lose you."

"I'm not going anywhere." I said, pulling away from the hug, and pressing my lips to his. He smiled, and led me over to a pile of supplies by my hand.

"Take what you want, we're leaving today."

"Why?"

"There aren't many of us left, so we're going to try and hunt them down."

/

We ended up heading to a mountain in the east, which had a zig-zagging path leading up it which we followed.. Me and Clove had one backpack but Cato had two because he was the biggest, and we all took our weapons with us. Even though Cato was carrying more weight, he still was far ahead of Clove and I. We walked in silence until Clove started to speak to me.

"I hope you know what you are doing with Cato," she said out of nowhere.

"What do you mean?"

"I've never seen him like this in his whole life. He's a completely new person ever since he met you. If you hurt him, I swear I will come after you, and I will inflict so much pain on you you'll wish you were never born," she threatened.

I raised my hands in mock surrender. "Believe me I have no plans of hurting him." She nodded in appreciation, and a slightly weird, uncomfortable silence. "How did you know Cato in District 2?" I inquired.

"I'm assuming Cato has already told you about the Academy?" I nodded. "Well we always covered for each other, like if one of us was late the other would back them up in their excuse. We were kind of friends, I guess, but nothing like you and him."

"Do you want to be?"

She burst out laughing. "Believe me, I do not fancy Cato. I can see why girls like him, but he's not what I'd go for."

"So what would you go for?"

"Well I don't really have experience in that kinda thing, so I don't know. I've never had a boyfriend."

"Neither have I."

She turned to me as we walked with an eyebrow raised. "Really? When I first saw you I had you pegged as the District 12 version of Glimmer!"

"Wow, it's nice to know how much you think of me," I said sarcastically and we started laughing.

/

Later, we had finally caught up o Cato and we set up camp in a small clearing which was on a fairly large hill. We made the usual: a fire in the middle, mine and Cato's bed on one side and Clove's on the other. While Cato and Clove ate the supplies from the Cornucopia, I felt like something to eat from home, so I quickly went into the woods, checking that Cato knew where I was going in case he freaked out again. I shot a squirrel and went back to the fire, and began to skin it, while Cato looked on in disgust but Clove didn't seem to mind. I stuck the skinned squirrel on one of my arrows and began to roast it on the fire.

"You're seriously going to eat that?" Cato asked me, edging away from me.

"Yep," I said, tearing into the now roasted squirrel. I held a piece out to him. "You want some?"

"Ew, no!"

"Come on, try some!" I got up and waved the piece of squirrel in his face. He back away, so I chased him holding the meat out in front of me and he started running away into the forest.

"Get it away from me!" He yelled backwards, not stopping running. Eventually I grew too tired to run anymore, but he didn't seem to notice. Soon he realised I was no longer behind him and he shouted: "Katniss?" But I didn't respond. "Come on, Katniss, this isn't funny." I went to where he was and hid behind a bush so he couldn't see me. When he turned around, I pounced on him, but he turned around, hearing me come out and we fell onto the floor with me sitting on top of him.

"Gotcha," I whispered, grinning, and I leaned down to kiss him on the lips, and he didn't resist.

He pulled back and said, "You know, dead squirrel doesn't actually taste that bad!" making us both laugh.

He then rolled us over so he was the one on top, and he kissed me, and I kissed back. He began to run his tongue over my lips. I opened my mouth, and he began to explore my mouth with his tongue, running his hands over my hips while I roamed his muscled back with mine.

It felt like we stayed like that for ages, and that's where I knew I wanted to be. With Cato, no Hunger Games, no constant threat of death looming over you. Just me and him, the way it should have been.

We eventually went back to the campsite, and Clove was already asleep, so Cato and I laid down with my head buried in his neck and his arms protectively around me, and I was dragged into a sleep that I thought would be plagued with nightmares yet again.

**A/N: This was kind of a weird chapter to write, but it was fun :P There's something next chapter that I can't wait to write! :DDD**


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